Bandsaw blade question - Specific use....

[Jebediah Eckert]

I’m looking for the best blade for one task. I will be resawing 6” kiln dried Basswood on a fairly regular basis. Currently I have a 1/2” 3 tpi skip tooth blade that works fine, just slower then I would like. Basswood is “stringy” and seems to “pulse” at times through the cut. I read on threads here that is probably failing to clear the waste, then clearing it, then clogging again.

I do not need a great surface, I’m looking more for speed. The pieces take a ride across the jointer once or twice anyhow after the bandsaw.

My bandsaw is an Italian Laguna HD 16”.

The blade I am using now is fine. I’m more wondering if there is anything faster enough to be worth it?

Thanks.

[Don Stephan]

One of the reasons I like Suffolk Machinery (Timberwolf) band saw blades is they have several different tooth designs for optimal cutting in different materials, such as sheet goods, green wood, kiln dried wood, plastics, and so on. Their phone call support has always been excellent for me.

[Jebediah Eckert]

That’s who I use also. I will give them a call tomorrow. Was hoping somebody here has experience with cutting lots of Basswood. I’m sure Suffolk will have a suggestion from their chart but I find it kind of unique in practice.

[Andrew Hughes]

I was resawing basswood just last week and saw the same thing. Lots of dust clinging to the sides freshly cut I was using a Resaw king because it happened to be on the saw at the time.
The surface was great but all the extra dust tells me the blade needs more set.
If I were in your shoes I would look at a wood turners blade for greenwood.
Good Luck

[John TenEyck]

Look at the Woodmaster CT 3/4" x 2 tpi. I think your saw should be able to tension it OK. Assuming it can it will go through basswood like butter. Just make sure you have plenty of dust collector cfm hooked up to carry away the sawdust. That might be much of your current issue. If so, get that resolved and maybe the blade you have on now will work OK.

John

[Mel Fulks]

Yep, when re-sawing use a real re-saw band ....and never cut your lawn with hand shears.

[Jebediah Eckert]

Yep, when re-sawing use a real re-saw band ....and never cut your lawn with hand shears.

Thanks Mel, I was initially thinking the same thing. The more I read it seemed like the resaw blades talked more of quality of finish and consistency then speed. I hate changing blades like most people so the 1/2” 3 tpi stays on the saw for just about everything so I never owned a dedicated resaw blade.

[Jebediah Eckert]

Thanks for the info. My dust collection is about as good as you can get TO the saw. I’m not sure how well the saw does once it gets there. When I pull the boards off the saw there is a good layer of dust to knock off each time. Inside the saw stays pretty clear and mostly off the table. It all seems to sandwich between the boards, some more then others. The wood is at 8 ish % but seems to almost act like the dust from a KD stud from the big box stores. It will stick to the board like it is wet, but as soon as you bump it the dust turns to a powder in the air. Weird material. The blade is sharp. One board out of maybe 20 goes through the saw fast without any resistance at all. I started paying better attention and those “fast boards” did not have the dust caked between he layers but still had the same MC.....weird.

[Brian Holcombe]

I have a 3tpi resaw king on my saw now, the 1.3T wood master CT is much faster. I had a string of them that all sawed off to one side which Lennox has resolved by sending a few new blades but in the interim I bought the resaw king. The king produces a nicer finish but the ct is faster.

[Andrew Hughes]

That funny feed rate your experiencing could be the fibers bundling up behind the blade at the back of the throat plate.
Sometimes you can see what’s left of them after a cut.
To minimize them I keep the back of the blade square to the table. So it’s not cutting long with the grain
Good Luck

[Jebediah Eckert]

Thanks Brian, I checked those out. Not sure I want to step up to a $200 blade just yet, maybe I will try one first...

Andrew -

Thanks, that could be it, or part of it. The kerf in my bandsaw insert is cut behind the blade and it quickly gets packed with stringy Basswood peelings. Basswood is the only wood that I have found that does that. What do you mean by squaring the back of the blade? You mean so the blade isn’t leaning into, or away from the cut?

Interesting aside.....I was making a bunch of rip cuts in the Basswood on my tablesaw. For the first few minutes or so I forgot to turn on the dust collector. That must have been enough to pack the saw dust chute up. In a very short period of time I completely filled the cabinet of the saw before I realized it was happening. Packed with long stringy Basswood.....

[Stewart Lang]

I’m looking for the best blade for one task. I will be resawing 6” kiln dried Basswood on a fairly regular basis. Currently I have a 1/2” 3 tpi skip tooth blade that works fine, just slower then I would like. Basswood is “stringy” and seems to “pulse” at times through the cut. I read on threads here that is probably failing to clear the waste, then clearing it, then clogging again.

I do not need a great surface, I’m looking more for speed. The pieces take a ride across the jointer once or twice anyhow after the bandsaw.

My bandsaw is an Italian Laguna HD 16”.

The blade I am using now is fine. I’m more wondering if there is anything faster enough to be worth it?

Thanks.

I've always found Timberwolf blades very dull. I've ordered lots of them over the years and never been happy with them. Here's what I do (and I've yet to find a blade that cuts faster than this). Mount a belt sander vertically on your workbench and put 600 grit on it. Lightly touch the top of each tooth on it, just enough to sharpen them. It'll cut 2-3x faster than a brand new Timberwolf blade. The cut quality suffers a little because you're messing with the set of the teeth, but if you need speed, that's definitely something to try. At least that's my experience.

[Andrew Hughes]

Yes square the back of the blade to the table . Or the front the back is easier. Keeping the fiber short as possible
Good Luck

[Jebediah Eckert]

Thanks, i will give that a try.

[lowell holmes]

How many glue ups are you going to do. I would try one and if it works you will know.

[Jebediah Eckert]

Ok, I called the company for blade selection. Not sure they were familiar with Basswood. I basically got an answer off the flowchart. The person said I could try a “green wood” blade and see how that goes? They added those are better at clearing the waste.

Does anybody have experience with those blades? I know turners use them for roughing blanks but I’m not sure how they would do for my task. I guess for $40 it’s worth a try. Customer service said use an “alternate set” blade, 2 or 3 tpi, but they didn’t sound confident on any of the advice.